I formatted my 32 GB flash in APFS file system and added
some data. Later, I reformatted it to HFS+ thinking my data was already on my
Mac. But, the data was nowhere but only on the flash which got formatted.
Please suggest how to recover that folder from APFS file system?

5 Replies

Data recovery products that support APFS are surely few if any yet, and those that support HFS+ will probably not have any success trying to recover data from what WAS stored on/under APFS.

Given the nature of flash storage (chance of the data being there depending on how much use the storage has had since), and that you’ve reformatted it, adding the above real-world complications (read: nearly impossible hurdle), the most realistic option is quite probably to consider that data lost.

Ask DriveSavers for a 2nd opinion if you have enough funds to pay a professional recovery service. Best of luck !!

EDIT. Important - It is always advisable to do a 1 for 1 backup of whatever you have on the USB stick before you work on it and work on that so that the original is still there for another go if things go wrong.

I would not give up on some of the files not being recoverable. I am not a Mac user but I would have thought that the system works the same in all systems in that the file allocation table is all that changes when you do a quick format and you do not write zeros or something to every cell. If you do a full format then it will probably destroy the data. If you have overwritten the files then they will be gone.There are file recovery programmes for Macs such as https://datarecovery.wondershare.com/apfs/how-to-recover-lost-data-from-apfs-volume.html but I cannot vouch for them. So you can either send it to a recovery specialist or try the recovery programmes yourself. Your call how much you need the files and how much you want to pay.

Also, before you put the files on the USB stick you just might have left copies on the machine that produced them.

There could be a few bad things going against you. First, if this was on an SSD with Trim enabled, then the data might be gone. If you didn't have that much data on the volume before the reformat and put more data than previously onto the newly formatted volume, then the data might be gone. Unfortunately, there isn't much I can do to advise you other than attempting recovery utilities that scan free space for the files you need. They would lose their names and creation/modification dates, but might come back ok as APFS typically saves files contiguously until the volume runs out of room.

If you have any trouble and truly need the data, you can always call DriveSavers 24/7 at 800-440-1904 and refer to DS98006 for a SpiceWorks discount. What type of files are you looking for? That might help me understand your chances.

The data from APFS file system can be only recovered using 3rd party data recovery software. As APFS doesn’t support time machine backup you need to take the backup of your important data using another external device. Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery supports macOS High Sierra and recovers data from APFS. Once recovered you can save the files to the external drive.